


deck the halls

by firefliesandstarlight



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Found Family, M/M, Team as Family, comments make my day! happy holidays y’all, no beta we die like the team doesn’t, they make gingerbread houses and have fun together ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:28:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28306779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefliesandstarlight/pseuds/firefliesandstarlight
Summary: Andy, Nile, Joe, and Nicky take an evening off toattempt tomake gingerbread houses
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	deck the halls

**Author's Note:**

> i am in no way assuming or headcanoning that the team celebrates christmas at all; i just thought it would be fun if they tried to make gingerbread houses, bc those things are _tricky_ and i think they’d have fun :)

“The box lied.” 

“Do elaborate, Nicky.” Joe, forehead creased with concentration, squeezes icing out onto the edges of another piece of gingerbread. “The box has, after all, never spoken.” 

Nicky laughs. “You’re not wrong, love, but look here. Look at this.” He holds up the box and points to a line of cursive writing towards the bottom. “‘ Easy and fun! No mess! ’” 

“Whatever do you mean?” Andy, armed with two bags of icing and a wicked grin, looks up from the house she and Nile are attempting to build. “This kitchen has never been cleaner!” 

The kitchen in question belongs to one of the many safe houses the team has scattered around the European countryside. It has, in fact, been cleaner; aside from that one time Andy tried to copy one of Nicky’s excellent flatbread recipes, this might be the messiest it’s ever been. Icing is dotted around most of the counter space; Joe has some vaguely sugary-looking decorations in his hair, and Nile’s once-red t-shirt now has a lovely icing-flavoured polka dot pattern. 

“This is not easy,” Nicky says, picking up an icing bag and following Joe’s lead. “It is certainly not mess-free.” 

“It is, however, fun!” Nile lets go of the two pieces of gingerbread she’s been holding together while the icing dried. “Voila! Look, Andy, it’s actually standing!” 

“Excellent.” Andy gives Nile a high five. “Now all we have to do is get the other four pieces on there, hey?” 

Nile looks at the bit of constructed house, then at the remaining pieces, then back at the house again. “I’d love to say that we got this, but...” 

“Hey, just be happy you’ve got something standing,” Joe says with a grin. He sets down his bag of icing and looks to Nicky. “Ready,  habibi ?” 

“Whenever you are,” Nicky says. 

“One, two... three!” In sync, Nicky and Joe prop up their iced gingerbread pieces and hold them together. “The box says to hold them for one minute, right?” 

Nicky leans back, still holding the gingerbread, and tilts his head until he can see the instructions on the box. “One minute,” he confirms, straightening. “I hope this one actually works.” 

“It’ll stay up this time, I’m sure of it,” Joe says, trying to be reassuring, but they’re both grinning so much they’re in danger of bursting out laughing and toppling the house altogether. 

Nile sets a timer for them, and, while Nicky and Joe pray to every god they’ve ever been mistaken for that the gingerbread stays up, she and Andy start attempting to put on the roof. 

“The walls are solid, right? You’re sure they’re solid?” Nile taps one of the walls in question doubtfully. “The roof’ll just cave in if they’re not.” 

“I’m absolutely, positively, ninety-four percent sure that the walls are solid.” Andy holds up one of the two roof pieces. “You only live once, Nile. Let’s do this.” 

Nile, Joe, and Nicky crack up all at once, and Andy, pleased that her joke landed so well, takes a bow. 

“You’re welcome.” 

Joe lets go of the gingerbread he’s holding up— it’s a lost cause. “ Andyyyyyyy . You made it slide!” 

“I feel like this was inevitable,” Nicky says, picking up one of the fallen wall pieces. He examines it, then takes a bite. “It was going to fall one way or another. Might as well fall now.” 

“You’re  eating it?” Joe puts on a dramatic air of betrayal. “ Nicolo , my  love , how  could you?” 

“Sorry,” Nicky says through a mouthful of gingerbread crumbs. “It’s actually not terrible.” 

“It isn’t? Gimme.” Joe drops his airs and takes the piece of gingerbread Nicky offers him. “Holy shit, this is  good . Here, Andy, try some.” He breaks off a piece and hands it to Andy. “Good, right?” 

“Damn.” Andy holds up her piece of gingerbread like it’s the cub from  The Lion King — a movie Nile made them all watch, and a movie they all shockingly enjoyed. “Nile, have you had any of this?” 

Nile, having taken a piece of gingerbread Nicky silently offered, does a thumbs up. “ Bruh . Why are we even bothering to make the houses? We should just eat the gingerbread and call it a day.” 

Nicky points to Nile and nods aggressively. “I’m with her. The building is too much work, but the eating?” He pauses to rub a bit of icing off of Joe’s nose, then finishes: “Brilliant.” 

“Yeah, after having this thing fall no less than four times...” Joe subconsciously rubs the place on his nose where Nicky wiped away the stray icing. “My vote is to eat it. Andy?” 

Andy is already halfway through eating one of the gingerbread roof tiles. “I think y’all can guess my vote.” 

“What would you say to watching a movie and eating the rest of this?” Pulling a paper towel off a nearby roll to use as a paper plate stand-in, Nile piles on a couple gingerbread pieces and heads for the doorway into the living room. “This place has  got to have some old DVDs or something.” 

“Just not  The Lion King , yeah?” 

Twenty minutes of intense deliberation later, Andy, Nile, Nicky, and Joe settle down on the couch to watch, yet again,  The Lion King , with paper towels of gingerbread in their laps. 

**Author's Note:**

> happy holidays y’all!


End file.
